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WASHINGTON, JEFFERSON 



AND 



"CITIZEN" GENET. 



1793 



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Washington, Jefferson, and 
"Citizen" Genet, 1793. 



An article in Harper's Magazine for March, 1897, 
headed "Washington and the French Craze of 
1793, "and other recent articles in other magazines 
and histories, seem to have for their chief object 
to collate and revive the calumnies, and to recolor 
the "Scarlet Letter" that American historical 
writers have generally sought to attach to the 
name of the Envoy of the First French Republic 
to this country, known as " Citizen" Genet. Since 
he never returned to his country, married in suc- 
cession the daughters of two distinguished i)atriots 
of the American Revolution, G-eorge Clinton, for 
twenty-two years elected and re-elected Governor 
of the State of New York and later Vice-President 
of the United States, and of Samuel Osgood, First 
Commissioner of the U. S. Treasury during the 
Revolution, and U. S. Postmaster General by ap- 
pointment of President Washington himself, 1789- 
91, became an honored citizen of the State of New 
York, and has left descendants — it is proper that 
an opportunity should be given to truth to assert 
itself — " If nothing were to remain — " says 
madame Roland in her appeal to posterity from the 
steps of the scaffold "but their calumnies and 
their conduct, the atrocity of their falsehood 
would still appear." 

He was born at Versailles in 1763, and his name 
was Edmond Charles Genet de Charmantot. His 
father was Edm6 Jacques Genet, a man of letters, 
a diplomat, a Count, and head of an important 



bureau in the French Office of Foreign Affairs 
during the American Revolution. It was of great 
importance to establish and maintain in Europe 
the isolation of great Britain and a general sym- 
pathj^ with the Colonies. In this view, in addi- 
tion to his other duties, he was intrusted by de 
Vergennes to compile and circulate through the 
Courts of Europe, a semi-official periodical called 
Affaires de L' Anglettere et de I'Amerique. It was 
begun in 1776 and suspended at the end of 1778 
after the treaties between France and the United 
States, and at the making of which he assisted, 
were made public. This work is in lifteen volumes 
and is in several of the libraiies of the U. S. The 
American Commissioners Franklin, Adams and 
Izard made contributions to it from time to time. 
It was in translating some of these into French 
that young Genet acquired his love of liberty. 

He was the youngest child and only son. The 
eldest was Henriette, who upon the arrival of the 
young Archduchess, Marie Antoinette, to wed the 
Dauphin, Louis XVI, was placed by the Duke de 
Choiseul with that Princess, as reader. She always 
remained with her and when that Princess became 
Queen, was married to M. Campan, and appointed 
Lady of the Bedchamber. Two younger sisters 
were afterwards placed near the Queen, who en- 
dowed and married them, and became godmother 
for some of their children. 

Edmond was educated under the personal super- 
vision of his father, in all such knowledge and ac- 
complishments as might be useful to him in the 
Diplomatic career to which he was destined. This 
included the ancient and modern languages. 
When qtiite young he translated into French 
and published the life of Eric, King of Sweden, 
which brought him a gold medal from the then 
King, and gave him a place among the literary 
men of the day. As such he was presented to Vol- 



r 



taire by the Chevalier d'Eon. ''Ah," said Vol- 
taii'e to him aside, "I should have done much 
better to have made her, referring to d'Eon, the 
heroine of my Pucelle instead of Joan, who after 
all was but a rude country girl." 

He went to Brest with M. Gerard and other 
young men from his father's office to learn the 
terms used by the English and American sailors 
and officers at that port, to compile a dictionery of 
English and French naval terms for the use of the 
French sailors during the American War. At 
seventeen he received a commission as Lieutenant 
in the Army, was attached to the Regiment of 
Dragoons, commanded by the Dukede Luynes, and 
accompanied that regiment to Brest, to be trans- 
ported to this country, to aid in the Revolution; 
but information being received that cavalry was 
not wanted here, the regiment returned. He next 
went to Giesen to study international law and to 
improve himself in German, then to Berlin and 
was attached to the Embassy at that Court. He 
took with him letters of personal recommendation, 
which procured for him a flattering reception from 
Frederick the Great, who conversed with him for 
a half hour upon French literature. From Berlin 
he went to Vienna and was attached for a time to 
the French Embassy at that Court. In the fall of 
1781 he returned to Versailles with the Minister, 
the Baron de Breteuil, only in time to attend the 
deathbed of his father. 

His education in the languages, history, diplo- 
macy and law, as well as the personal accomplish- 
ments, had been so thorough that on, the recom- 
mendation of the Count de Vergennes, and through 
the influence of the Queen, he was appointed to 
his father's X)lace. It was to this office he says 
that the news of the battle of Yorktown came first; 
brought over from England in some fishing smacks, 
and with it the less agreeable intelligence of the 



4 

defeat of the Count de Grasse. He at once took it 
to the King, wiio made him read it twice and then 
directed him to take it to the Duke de Castries, 
Minister of War, who directed him to withhold 
tlie news, until measures could be taken to counter- 
act the effect of the defeat of DeGrass. This was 
the same minister, he adds, who directed me to 
send the plan of the battle to London, before it loas 
fought^ to defeat some financial scheme of the 
British. 

In 1783 he went to London as Secretary of the 
Special Embassy that was sent there to make a 
Commercial Treaty after the American Treaties had 
been signed at Paris. It was here that he first ex- 
hibited that tendency to Democracy that after- 
wards brought him to the verge of the scaffold, as 
also to the detestation and sneers of most Ameri- 
can historical partisians. Instead of being pre- 
sented at Court he went at the earnest request of 
his friend, the Duke de la Rochefoucold, to Man- 
chester and other manufacturing towns in England 
to get material for papers upon manufactures to be 
read before one of theAcademies,of which they were 
members. He sought out Mr. Watt, the inventor 
of steam engines, from whom he obtained a promise 
to come to France, to learn them its use. On his 
return he obtained for a son of Mr. Watt a place 
as one of the King's Pages. He brought with him 
also the screw auger, of which the French knew 
nothing, and a new kind of harx'ioon, thereby, he 
says, believing that he did his country a real ser- 
vice, while the treaty that had been signed could 
only bring it disaster. His undisguised hostility 
to that unfortunate treaty, first brought him the 
violent enemies and the warm friends who, as they 
increased from diffeient causes, embittered and 
sweetened his after life. That ended, hate being 
the most lasting consigns his name to be crucified 
on the pages of American History. 



I 



About this time tiie Count de Vergennes, the 
firm and steadfast friend of the extension of 
French Commerce and of American Independence 
in aid of it, died; and Fi-ance entered on that 
downward course of financial disorder and general 
incompetence, that ended in tlie terrible ex)ocli 
known as the French Revolution; of which the 
Reign of Terror of Robespierre and the advent of 
Napoleon the Avenger, are the most marked fea- 
tures. 

When the States General were assembled, in 
consequence of the disorder in-the finances, origin- 
ally caused by the great strain of the war of the 
American Revolution, it was divided intocon)mit- 
tees, each of which was presided over by a Prince 
of the blood. LaFayette was a member of the 
committee presided over by the King's youngest 
brother, the Count d'Artois. It was proposed to 
adopt the stamp duties as a means of raising more 
revenue. The Count sent for Genet and said to 
him, that he knew that his father had kept in 
his office a full history of the stamp duties in Eng- 
land, and he wished him to examine the matter 
and to report as soon as possible. He sat up all 
night and drew a paper showing the bad effects of 
those acts upon trade and commerce. He came be 
fore the Committee the next day and began to 
read his paper, when the Count stopped him, say- 
ing, if they wished to hear further on the subject 
he would send for him. LaFayette, meeting him 
at the house of the Duke de la Rochefoucold the 
next da}", embraced him and said to him, '\vou aie 
very young, but yesterday you behaved like a 
man." The great expense of the American War 
had disarranged French finances. The Nobility 
and Clergy had in time past, acquired great hold- 
ings of land, and in various ways, exempted them- 
selves from taxation, putting the whole burden on 
trade and commerce. The liberal party, composed 



G 

of men of the hif^hest attainments, as well as some 
of the privileged classes, sought to force the privi- 
leged classes to give up some of these exemptions 
for the welfare of the State; but the classes refused 
it, even to the point of general ruin. From this 
starting point arose the great French Revolution. 
La Fayette belonged to the liberal party. 

Grenet soon felt the effect of the displeasure of 
the Prince. Among the economic reforms adox)ted 
was the abolition of his office, and a transfer of its 
duties to other departments of the office of Foreign 
Affairs. Being then out of employment he applied 
to be sent to St. Petersburg, as Charge d' Affaires, 
Count de Segnr, tlie French Minister at that Court, 
having asked leave of absence. The Queen inter- 
ested herself in the matter and the appointment 
was made. On his arrival the Count had changed 
his mind, having failed to effect peace between 
Russia and the Turks. De Segur how^ever invited 
himto remain and act as Secretarv of Legation un- 
til he should return. 

September 11th, 1787, Count De Segur wrote to 
Count de Montmorin, Minister of Foreign Affairs. 
•' M. Genet has airived and delivered me the letter 
you do me the honor to write me. I have presented 
him to the Vice Chancellor, and he will be i^re- 
sented next Sunday to the Empress. His form, 
liis bearing and conversation, correspond perfectly 
with the eulogies that have been made of him in 
^ *' all the letters he has brought me." " I went with 
the Count to Court," Genet says, " where I was in- 
troduced to the whole Diplomatic Corps, previous 
to the return of Her Luperial Majesty from the 
Chapel. Upon the signal of her arrival being given 
by the officers who preceded her, the Ambassadors, 
Ministers, Secretaries and Foreigners of distinc- 
tion present, ranged themselves on both sides of 
the door of the grand Salle D' Audience. She 
stopped there with her cortege, and every one of 



r 



those 1 have mentioned approached her in turn 
with a profound bow, and taking her hand respect- 
fully, was permitted to kiss it. She was engaged 
in conversation with Counts Cobenzl and De Segur 
when Count Osterman mentioned my name and 
character to her. She stretched out her hand as 
usual, but looking at me attentively she indicated 
a surprise which was noticed by all those who 
were present. Afterwards I was informed it arose 
from the following circumstance. It had pleased 
Divine Providence to establish a perfect resemb- 
lance between her late favorite. Count Landskoy, 
and myself; in addition to which 1 wore the bril- 
liant uniform of the First Regiment of Dragoons, 
called the Colonel (General, which was very similar 
to that Landskoy used to wear. Madame La 
Baronne de Benkersdorf, Lady of Honor to the 
Grand Duchess, told me that the resemblance had* 
also been noticed by the Grand Duchess and tlie 
Grand Duke, and had been the subject of conversa- 
tion after the audience. 

After about a year, affairs in France becoming 
deeply disturbed and there being no innnediate 
prospect of his being able to bring about a peace 
between Russia and the Turks De Segur determined 
to return home. In a private letter to Count de 
Montmorin, then Minister of Foreign Affairs, he 
says, " M. Genet has shown me a letter of thanks 
"he has written you. Each time that he believes 
'•that he ow^es you thanks I should do the same. 
"He is a very distinguished young man. and I 
"dare say very important to keep in the King's ser- 
"vice. To advance him will be a useful service to 
"his Majesty. He is in all respects suitable. He 
"unitesagreeable talents with profound knowledge. 
"He is erudite without pedantry, bright without 
"pretension ; his logic is just, liis zeal indefatigable, 
"his wit is ornate, his manner of thinking noble 
"and attractive. I dare to assure you, Count, that 



8 



"a Minister at the head of j'our department will 
"lind few persons whom he can attach to himself 
"or employ actively with more profit and less 



"inconvenience." 



January 31, 1789, he writes: "I have another 
"prayer to make to you, Count It is to encourage 
"the zeal of M. Genet by a little bounty and some 
"hope of advancement. He has served at Vienna 
"with the Baron deBreteuil, at London with M. 
"de Moustier; he has been Chief of a Bureau; 1 
"have given him since he has been here, excessive 
"work, and the more I become acquainted with 
"him, the more I find him to be a great treasure to 
"sustain and employ." Both requests were granted. 
He was promoted to the rank of Captain and was 
left as Charge d'Aft'aires, acting in concert at St. 
Petersburg with Count deChoisuel, the French 
Minister at Constantino2)le, lo bring about peace 
with as little loss of territory to the Turks as pos- 
sible. At the end of about a year it was accom- 
plished, and Genet stood in high favor at the Rus- 
sian Court. The Empress presented him with dia- 
mond knee buckles, and in other ways showed her 
satisfaction. 

In the meantime the King of France had ac- 
cepted and sworn to support a Constitution, and 
had required all of his agents at Foreign Courts 
to do the same; but he had no sooner done this 
than he was persuaded to change his mind. The 
Princes, his brothers, left Fi-ance and became 
known by the term Emigree^s. They invited the 
sovereigns of Europe to form an allied army to 
invade F'rance and restore the King to his former 
absolute power. 

In a book published in Paris in 1895, entitled 
"Catharine the Great," by M. de la Riviere, pre- 
face by Alfred Rambaud, the author says: 
""In 1791, we find France with three reju'e- 
"sentatives. France of the Constitution in the 



9 

"person of M. Genet; the Royal Court in the per- 
'•son of the Marquis deBoml)elles; the Emigreesin 
"the person of Count Esterbazy. In her treatment 
"of these three representatives Catharine varied. 
"Genet was kept at a distance from the Court, 
"surrounded with spies, loaded with disagreeable 
"proceedings and finally expelled. Bombelles 
"was received very coldly as the emissary of a 
"King 'captive' and besides 'who did not know 
"himself what he wanted.' All the favors went to 
"Count d'Artois, to the Emigrees, and yet the 
"only one of these to whom Catherine rendered 
"any real service, was that of the Revolution; not 
''even to that Genet represented; and which still 
"had a Royal Constitution; but the one she held 
"in utter horror, France of the Convention. To 
"the Constitutional Royalists she granted her 
'''disdain. To the nltra Royalists some courteous 
"words and some money. To the King and Queen 
"a little pity; but to the 'Athiests' the 'Jacobins' 
"the 'Regicides,' as she called them, she contrib- 
"uted most signally to give them the Low Coun- 
"tries, Holland, the left bank of the Rhine. She 
"did not save either the head of Louis XVI, nor 
"the crown of Louis XVII, nor the pretensions 
"of Louis XVIII, but next to the energy of the 
''Convention, the safety of the Republic is attrib- 
'•utable to the policy of Catherine II." What the 
author means is — that when the allied armies were 
about to invade France, discovering the design of 
the Empress to seize Poland, the Emperor of Aus- 
tria and King of Prussia withdrew a portion of 
their troops to frustrate her design and seen re 
their own share of plundered Poland; and thus 
caused the French successes. 

"Count Esterhazy," continues this author "ar- 
"rived at St. Petersburgh a '•persona grata' at the 
'•moment vvlien Genet represented the French Gov- 
"ernment officially. But M. Genet, a brother of 



10 

"Madame Cam pan, was, according to M. de St. 
"Priest, who liad the full confidence of the Empress 
" 'un petit sot enrage,' an insane young fool; and, 
"according to Catharine, an insane demagogue, 'un 
"demagogue enrage.' August 81st, 1791, Count 
"Osterman notified him no longer to appear at 
"Court, and Count Besberodko treated him as a 
"person under police surveillance. For the rest his 
"position became intolerable, and after the events 
"of June, 1792, in France, he had to quit Russia 
"July 27th." Catharine had her real intentions 
safel}^ locked in her own bosom. The King O'f 
Prussia was not disposed to join th6 league and 
refused to do so, until as appears in the letters of 
Mr. Paget, the then Secretary of Legation to the 
British Embassy at St. Peterburg, recently pub- 
lished, the English Government gave him two 
million pounds sterling to do so. Now what had 
England to gain that it should advance so large a 
sum to induce Prussia to enter the League? It 
could have but one object, the isolation and humil- 
ation of France, the expurgation of all republics, 
and with the aid of her American friends, direct 
her colonies to return to their former allegiance. 
The Republic of the United States would have 
fallen as Poland fell "unwept without a crime.'' 
In this condition, this country being in an acknow- 
ledged defenceless state, Washington determined 
to repudiate the French Treaties and "to offer 
Great Britain as an inducement, tlie Commercial 
treaty that tlif'y wanted in 1778. See Sparks 
Washington XI, p. 505, Life of Paine by Conway, 
vol. 2, p. 176. 

If American writers think Genet left Russia 
really personally despised, by the Empress, they 
are mistaken. During the time he was forced to 
leave the society of the Court and live in retire- 
ment, she at one time took pity on his loneliness 
and directed some of the ladies of her Court to of- 



11 

fer hini a fete at one of her castles outside the city. 
And again, when about to return to Fi'ance under 
her order of expulsion it was intimated to him, that 
he could enter the diplonjatic service of Russia if 
he would give up his own country, which offer he 
refused. His coadjutor in the peace between 
Russia and the Turks, Count de Choiseul, did en- 
ter the service of Russia, married a Russian lady 
and gave up his own country. "Catharine gave 
"him lands, peasants and lucrative places. She 
"only accepted those who consented to quit France 
"without hope to return, and who by their age and 
"capacity, assured her a long period of service," 
sa3's M. de la Riviere. 

During the whole of this period she kept La 
Harpe, a Swiss, who was fully imbued with the 
philosophical ideas of the time, as the preceptor 
of her grandchildren, Alexander and Constantine, 
despite the earnest efforts of Esterhazy and the 
Prince of Nassau to remove him. "The Grand 
Duke Constantine," wrote Genet to M. de Mont- 
morin, minister of Foreign affairs, in 1791, "is an 
ardent Democrat", M. de la Riviere relates 
the following: "One day at Court, some of 
"the Emigres as usual spread themselves in praise 
"of the ancient regime. The young Duke con- 
"stantine, then but fourteen, lost patience; and 
"answered, that what they were saying of the state 
"of affairs in France before the Revolution was ab 
"solutely false." It was at this time that the 
Empress said of these sentiments, "tiiey may all 
be true but my business is to be an aristocrat." 

In a memorandum for his memoirs by Genet, he 
says of points to be mentioned "Conference with 
"de Milhan at Petersburg. Exhibition of a private 
"letter of Monsieur. My refusal to cooperate, and 
"my determination to support the Constitution, 
"Conference with Besborodko, confidential minis- 
' ter of Catherine II, in which I predicted all that has 



12 



"happened. Count Cobenzl, Austrian minister, the 
"same, Opening of de Sombreiiil at Petershoff, He 
"admits that lie had brought counter letters from 
"the King, presses me to retreat, and assures me 
"that I shall be well rewarded. I refuse. Arrival 
"of M, de St. Priest. He admits that he has secret 
"orders and powers, but wishes to act jointly with 
"me; My refusal and our rupture. He leaves me on 
"the road to the Vice Chancellor's; Intrigues to 
"have my accreditation suspended; He succeeds, I 
"protest, which was the first cause of my popularity 
"in France." His protest was that a nation had a 
right to regulate its own internal affairs. 

The moment he broke with M. de St. Priest, 
Genet wrote a letter to his sister, Mde. Campan, in- 
forming her of the resolution he had taken, saying 
that she must throw herself at the feet of the Queen 
and inform her of it, and to say to her, that he 
could see more clearly from Petersburg, what was 
going on in Paris, than could be seen there, where 
the fogs from the Seine frequently obscured a vieAv 
of the river, even from the Pavilion of Flora in the 
garden of the Tuilleries; and that he saw the safety 
of the Throne only in a strict adherence to the 
Constitution. But that his sisters had nothing to 
do with these questions, which were purely politi- 
cal; their duty lay in faithful service to the Queen. 
The Queen said that some ladies of the Court had 
already been to warn her against retaining the sis- 
ters of the Republican Genet so near to her; but 
she said she had known them too long to doubt 
them. Genet is an honest man, she said, but she 
feared it would interfere with his future advance- 
ment. She kept the letter to show to the King. 

The then minister of Foreign Affairs, Le Brun. 
August 17th, 1792, writes Genet: "Youi' mission 
being finished at Petersburg, do not lose an in- 
stant; make your preparations to return to Paris 
as quickly as possible. Your known patriotism 



I 



13 

and the distinguished talents that you have de- 
veloped during your residence at Petersburg are 
titles too precious not to require me to present j^on 
with new means to serve your country usefully. 
Hasten to come to the Capitol, where I will see you 
with great pleasure, since I destine you for a new 
mission, in which I am very sure you will acquire 
new rights to the gratitude of your fellow citi- 
zens." 

He arrived at Warsaw, where live years before 
he had spent a pleasant week at the Court of Poni- 
ato\vski, then King bj^ the appointment of Cath- 
rine, under the title of Stanislaus Augustus. He 
was King no more. Poland was divided between 
Austria, Prussia and Russia, and was a waste of 
ruin. Hearing of the excesses of the mobs in Paris, 
he despatched a Courier with a letter to the Gov- 
ernment, reminding it of his services, and asking 
for protection for his sisters wlio were in the service 
of the Queen. The letter arrived the fatal 10th of 
August, 1792. It was tied up with National rib- 
bons and two officers sent to the Tuilleries to rescue 
the sisters of the patriot Genet, from the mob which 
was then attacking the palace. Mde. Campan re- 
lates in her memoir of the Queen, that two of the 
mob already had them in their hands, wljen these 
officers appeared, and rescued them, and escorted 
them to their houses. She never knew what caused 
it. 

He had a flattering reception at Paris; was pro- 
moted to the rank of Colonel and appointed Min- 
ister to Holland, where he could not go at once 
because it was yet in the hands of the allies. The 
army of Gen. Montesquiou had been lying for seve- 
ral months at the foot of the Alps, the Swiss can- 
tons refusing to let it pass over their territory 
which was neutral. He was sent on a special mis- 
sion to Geneva; overcame their objections; obtained 
the requisite permission; received the written 



''v 



14 

thanks of the syndicate and Council and returned 
to Paris in fifteen daj^s. It was, he says, his suc- 
cess in this mission that opened the road for Napo- 
leon's subsequent Italian victories. 

On his return to Paris, he became active in an 
effort to secure a sentence of banishment against 
the King instead of death. He attended the great 
ball given to Gen' I Duraouriez in honor of his vic- 
tories, and finding it an orgie, left in disgust at an 
early hour with Gen'l Massena. He was present 
at a State Council, when the question was, whether 
or not war should be declared against England. 
Being' asked what he thought of her mill tar \'^ power 
said "It was formidable in proportion as it was 
feared." After the council, Count de Kersaiiit 
joined him and said to him that he was of the same 
opinion. 

A majority of the Convention were finally pledged 
to vote for the banishment of the King rather than 
death. The next question was to what country 
he should be banished, and it was decided that 
it should be to the United States, wliere he was 
held with much gratitude. A special mission 
was determined on, so that the King and Royal 
family could be at once removed. For various 
reasons the mission was offered to Genet — he liesi- 
tated to accept. The American minister Morris 
said he would not be received and his mission 
would be a failure. Condorcet opposed it, saying, 
it would be better to send him to Constantinople. 
Genet finally consented, partly in the hope of 
being able to show his personal respect to his late 
sovereigns, and jxirth^ because he was not a man 
who would be d-eterred by difficulties if he could 
serve his country. He was appointed Envoy Ex- 
traordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary'-, Consul 
General with full power to represent the Republic 
of Prance in the Republic of the United States. 

His instructions were extensive and difficult. 



15 

He took leave of his mother and sisters. The 
Frigate rEmbuscade was at Brest ready to sail. 
He went to the Convention to see the vote and 
there saw Vergniaux and a few of the leading 
Girondists suddenly surrender to wliat was called 
the Mountain; and vote for the King's death instead 
of banishment. There was nothing for him to do 
but to depart on his mission. He liad not reached 
the gates of the city, before his carriage was stopped 
by a mob, who were already taking control or the 
Government. It insisted he had the Dauphin con- 
cealed in the boot, 'i'hey examined it and also his 
trunks, when, being satisfied, with the aid of a 
magistrate and some officers of the National 
Guard, he was allowed to proceed. Arrived at 
Brest, the same story had reached the crew of the 
vessel, and they refused to sail. He addressed 
them for two hours, at the end of which time 
they resumed their duties with cheers for the 
Kepublic. 

Contrary winds detained the vessel nearly a 
month. In the meantime there was sent to him 
from Paris, a large number of blank commissions 
called letters of marque with directions to distri 
bute them among the French Consuls in the United 
States. A foreign minister has to obey the orders of 
his government, whatever they may be, without 
question. Finally the vessel sailed, and it was a 
proud day, he says, when her bow struck into the 
Atlantic waves, to carry him to the land of Frank- 
lin and Washington; the land where it was believed 
that libei'ty and honor had taken their abode. 
Again contrary winds kept the vessel at sea nearl^^ 
six weeks; whe.i, tinding himself near Charleston 
Genet determined to proceed by land to Philadel- 
phia — not to excite the people, as is claimed; for he 
could have had no foreknowledge of the reception 
he received along his route; and not to insult the 
Govei'nment, as is insisted upon; for he had no 



16 

official knowledge then, that the Government really 
intended to annul its treaties with France. Nor did 
the people know it; for the Neutrality proclama- 
tion had not then been made. But the journey he 
hoped would enlighten him on several points. He 
would see at Charleston Ralph Izard, Commodore 
Gillon, and other friends of liis father, who knew 
the service he had rendered them and all the 
xVmericans in Paris during the American Revolu- 
tion. From them he could learn something of the 
disposition of the Government and of the people. 
When asked by the Girondists what effect the 
execution of t])e King would have in America, 
Paine had answered: "Bad, very bad." This had 
to be met. He could take tlie Governor of Vir- 
ginia on his way, and perhaps find PresidentWash- 
ington at Mount Vernon, and make an informal 
call upon him, as a private person, before being 
formally presented and acknowledged. Mr. Izard, 
Governor Moultrie and others accompanied him out 
of Charleston. Mr. Izard told him the policy of 
the government was fixed. It would not fulfil the 
French treaties. The receptions he met along the 
route wei'e spontaneous and generous; in some 
resj^ects gratif^ang, in others unfortunate and 
untimely. He found the Governor of Virginia at 
Richmond, but when he reached Mount Vernon, 
Washington had left hurriedly for Philadelphia, 
where he summoned his Secretaries for advice and 
submitted certain questions to them. "In answer 
to these it was determined "That Congress need 
"not be called together; that although the 
"country was under no treaty obligation to give 
"England, the least consideration it was polic}'^ to 
"be neutral. That as France had made the declara- 
"tion, she was engaged in offensive war, and could 
"claim no aid under the treaty which created a 
"purely defensive alliance. That it loould he 
^'■'well to receim the Freitch Eiiooy loheii hecainey 



■f 
I 



17 

Thus the net result was that they would receive 
the Envoy as a sop to the jDeople who were evi- 
dently in opposition to the policy of the Govern- 
ment; that they would evade or wholly refuse to 
to fulfil the French treaties, in other respects fol- 
lowing the lead of Catherine ,of Russia and the 
allies; would make the mission as disagreeable as 
possible, and if the Envoy showed a disposition 
not to submit they would find means to destroy 
him. 

Unfortunately Genet was not the kind of patriot 
to betray his country in that way. Mde. Roland 
executed in the summer of the same year with her 
husband and the whole of the Girondists, by 
Robespierre, says of him: 

"The choice of an envoy to the United States 
"was conducted with more wisdom, and affords a 
"new argument in favor of Brissof, against whom 
"the share he had in it, is brought forward as a 
"crime. Bonne Carrere having been fixed upon I 
"know not at what period, Brissot observed to sev- 
"eral members of the Council, that it was of conse- 
"quence to the maintenance of our good under- 
"standing with the United States as well as tothe 
"glory of our infant Republic, to send to America 
"a man whose disposition and manners might be 
" 'agreeable to the Americans. In that respect Bonne 
"Carrere was not a suitable person — an amiable 
"libertine of the fashionable world and a gamester, 
"whatever might be his talents and abilities was 
"very unfit to play the grave and decent part, be- 
"coming a minister resident with that transatlantic 
"nation." 

"Brissot was actuated by no personal interest, 
"he was the last man in the world to be so inllu- 
"enced; he mentioned Genet who was just returned 
"from a residence of five years in Russia, and be- 
"sides his being already conversant with diplo- 
"matic affairs, possessed all the moral virtues and 



18 

'■'cill the information that could render liini agree- 
"able to a serious people. 

"That proposal was wise; it was supported by 
"every possible consideration and Genet was pre- 
"ferred. If this be an intrigue, let us praj^ that 
"all intriguers may resemble Brissot. I saw Genet, 
"I desired to see him again, and should always be 
"delighted witli his company. His judgment is 
"sound and his mind enlightened. He has as mnch 
"amenity as decency of manners — his conversation 
"is instructive and agreeable and equally free from 
"pedantry and from affectation — gentleness, pro- 
"priety, grace and reason are his characteristics 
"and with all this merit he unites the advantage 
"of speaking English with iluenc}'. Let the ig- 
"norant Robespierre and the extiavagant Chabot 
"declaim against such a man, by calling him the 
"friend of Brissot — let them procure by their 
"clamors the recall of the one and the trial of the 
"other, they will only add to the proofs of their 
"own villainy and stupidity, without hurting the 
"fame of those whom they may 11 nd means to de- 
"pnve of existence." 

The policy adopted by the United States Gov- 
einment to receive the envoy and destroy him as 
soon as possible, if he should prove intiactable, 
but in all other respects to repudiate the treaties, 
was a weak and foolish device to cover up a gross 
and wilful violation of the most sacred treaties that 
were ever made by any country, the very price of 
its birth and existence. By receiving the envoy it 
acknowledged the Rei)ublic of France, and as a 
necessary consequence acknowledged the treaties, 
and thus put itself in the position of first acknow- 
ledging them and then violating them without ap- 
paient cause. It would liave been better to refuse 
to acknowledge the French Republic. 

In the winter of 1778, Washington with a lagged 
and starving army at Valley Forge was all that was- 



19 

left of the American Revolution. Commissioners 
were on their way fi'om England to offer forgive- 
ness, at the same time a fast vessel was sailing from 
France with the treaties of Amit}'^ and Alliance and 
Commerce. By these treaties Prance agreed to take 
up arms in behalf of the colonies and "never to 
"make peace until their independence had been 
"secured, and guaranteed their sovereignty and in- 
"dependence forever. In return the United States 
"pledged itself to defend the possessions of the 
"French Crown in America ; in other words, the 
"French West Indies." When Genet asked for 
aims to defend their West India Islands Mr. Ham- 
ilton said it would be a cause of war with Great 
Britain if they did so. Gen'l Knox said "they 
"would not give him so much as a pistol, and this 
"was the determination of the Government, unless 
"he could turn President Washington inside out." 
It is unnecessary to cite breaches of the treaties or 
what rights the French had under them. It is suffi- 
cient that it has been determined by Congress after 
Congress by Webster, Clay, Seward and other 
statesmen, bv the decision of the Court of Claims 
and by tlie Supreme Court of the United States that 
the United States Government did violate its trea- 
ties with France in 179B. 

The writer in an article in Harpers April, 1896, 
undertakes to give an account of Genet's arriving 
in Philadelphia. "On May 16th, he says, a rider 
"galloped down Gray's Ferry Road ; the boom of 
"three guns was heaid in the city ; hundreds of 
"people flocked to the State House, and marching 
"to Gray's Ferry on the Schuylkill, brought Genet 
"in triumph to town." This is dramatic bnt erro- 
neous. Learning of what was going on, Genet took 
another road and reached the city before it was 
known ; this, however, did not prevent the people 
from surrounding the hotel and making him an 
address, to which decency required that he should 



t>0 

respond, which he did in a way that has never been 
claimed to be objectionable. 

The next day he was presented to President 
Washington, and made him an addiess that Mr. 
Jefferson said no one could have heard without 
being affected. Thereplyof Washington was cold 
to freezing. The next day, or a few days later, he 
was given a dinner at Oeller's Hotel, the toasts for 
which were prepared by Mr. Jefferson; but neither 
he nor any member of the Cabinet attended. It did 
not take Genet long to discover the tactics tliat 
were to be employed against him. 

On the 24th of April, 1778, William Temple 
Franklin in Paris wrote to Silas Dean: "Things 
"continue in almost the same situation as when 
"you left, as neither France nor England have as 
"yet declared war. France I believe, wishes for 
"it; but England dreads it; though her ministers or 
"rather misleaders talk of it with great indift'er- 
"ence. They feel more and more the absolute ne- 
"cessity of a reconciliation with us, and are almost 
"willing to give up the word Independence. I say 
"the word, for as yet, they would conciliate only 
'■'on condition that the commerce from the United 
'"' States should he liQnited. to Great Britian togeth- 
"er with other stipulations absolutely inconsis- 
^'■tent with the spirit of true independence.'''' 

Washington was of English ancestry, his affec- 
tions and prejudices were all English, prior to the 
Declaration of Independence. He had been in the 
war against the French in 1763, when Canada was 
gained by Great Britain. In 1775, on his way to 
Congress, "Being warned that the path on which 
he was entering might lead to separation from 
England," he said "If ever you hear of my joining 
"in any such measure you have my leave to set me 
"down for everything wicked." But aid would 
not be given by the King of France to a meie re- 
volt; it was necessary tliat the American Congress 



21 

slionld declare its independence, establish a govern- 
ment, become a nation and make a treaty before 
the King could aid them openly in the revolt. 
Hence the Declaration of Independence and the 
United States of America. 

Appointed to the Chief Command, the cause be- 
came his own, and Washington performed his 
duties faithfully and honorably, but he was sur- 
rounded by men who were more hostile to France 
than himself. 

During the American Revolution Washington at 
first opposed French officers coming to America. 
But after the winter at Harper's Ferry he changed 
his views. At the linal battle at Yorktown there 
were more French officers and soldiers than Ameri- 
can. Washington had not been able to furnish 
the quota he had promised. When the British de- 
termined to give up the struggle and trust to the 
language and the old affection and the dependency 
of the people on their commerce to bring them 
back, they demanded that peace should be made 
separately from France, and this was accepted by 
the American commissioners. Dr. Franklin was at 
first unwilling thus to desert their faithful ally, 
but France, exhausted by the war, shut its eyes to 
this first vioiation of the compact. 

After the peace, the States, exhausted by the 
war, and their seaports deprived of the profits 
of the trade with Great Britain, upon which 
they had always lived, became anxious for 
a return to more amicable relations with their 
ancient oppressor. The condition of France was 
becoming more desi:)erate each year and the mer- 
chants more pressing. In 1789, Washington wrote 
to Mr. Morris, the American minister at Paris, to 
sound the English Minister upon the subject of a 
commercial treaty. The British Government, of 
course, gave a favorable answer; but William Pitt 
had views very different from this; which were, 



22 

tljat the Colonies sJtonld come hack to them peac- 
ahly if they loould, forcibly if they must. It was 
in this view that he entered into the conspiracy to 
cripple or destroy France. It was in this view, that 
he refused to fulfil the treaty of '88 by evacuating 
the Western Posts and kept the Indians in a state 
of excitement. He therefore deferred the making 
of this offered commercial treaty, to learn if events 
would not enable him to do better. The territor- 
ial increase of Russia, Prussia and Austria by the 
division of Poland was of no advantage to Great 
Britain, It was unexpected. It was a bitter pill, 
but being in the conspiracy it was swallowed. 
The result was the triumph of the French Repub- 
lic as shown by M. de la Riviere. This was the 
state of affairs in Europe when Genet returned 
from Russia in 1792. The Girondists had some 
hope that the British people would see the madness 
of Pitt's political course, restore Mr. Fox to power, 
not object to a new treaty of commerce between 
France and the U. S. which would relieve the 
States from their old and disagreeable obligations, 
establish them in a position of fair and honest 
neutrality, to which Great Britain would herself 
accede and thus restore peace to the world. At 
Harper's Ferry the French had arrived first and 
thus defeated a reconciliation with England. In 
1798, the British agents and the French Emigres 
had arrived first; and Genet found the President 
entrenched behind a solid wall of preconceived 
hostility and impenetrable Court etiquette that 
rendered him inaccessible. Even the doors of the 
Philadelphia Court Society were sealed up. None 
of its members called upon this man who had pre- 
ferred patriotism to personal advantage. 

American historical writers claim that the Letters 
of Marque issued from American ports, were a vio- 
lation of the Neutrality Proclamation and therefore 
a crime. The letters of Marque were sent to Genet 



23 

by his Government to distribute to the Consuls. 
Before doing so he inquired from the Governor 
of South Carolina, if there were any laws against 
Americans taking service with another country 
and was informed there were none. These simple 
and honest Republicans, had no idea that the 
American President was more imperial than a 
British King. The Proclamation of Neutrality 
had not yet been issued; but even if it had I will 
allow Lord Russell, Chief Justice of England, to 
answer this by an extract from his speech to the 
New York Bar Association at Saratoga, in August, 
1896. "No sooner had Washington, as President, 
"and Jefferson, as Secretary of State, promulgated 
"the rules of Neutrality, by which they intended 
"to be guided, than they caused the arrest of 
"Gideon Henfield, an American citizen, to be tried 
"for taking service on board a French Privateer, 
"as being 2^ criminal act ^ because in contravention 
'''of these rules. Political feeling procured an 
acquittal in spite of the Judge's direction. Later 
on. Congress passed the act of 1794, making such 
"conduct criminal; not as I gather because it was 
"admitted to be necessary, but simply to strengthen 
"the hands uf the Executive. 1 can hardly doubt 
"how the same case would have been dealt with in 
"England. Assuming the doing of the acts for- 
"bidden by Proclamation of Neutrality, although 
"infraction of, international law, not to be misde- 
"meanors at common law, and not to have been 
"offenses by municipal statute, the Judges, I can- 
"not doubt, would have said, the act was yester- 
"day legal or at least not illegal, and the muni- 
"cipal law not having declared it a crime, they 
"would not so declare it. According to the law of 
'■''England a Proclamation by the Executive in 
'■'howecer solemn form has no leg islaiioe force un- 
^'less an Act of Parliamertt has so enacted''' 
Tlie other alleged crime, a threat to aj^tpeal to 



24 

the people was founded on the charge that a vessel 
called the Little Sarah taken prize by the L'Em- 
buscade and brought into Philadelphia had been 
renamed "Le Petit Democrat," and was fast 
becoming a Privateer. Governor Mifflin sent his 
private Secretary, Dallas, to Genet, at midnight to 
request him to detain her in port. Governor 
Mifflin, in compliance with an order of Govern- 
ment, had ordered a regiment of militia to detain 
her by force, and if necessary to sink her, and they 
were about to erect batteries on Mud Island for 
that purpose. Genet declaimed against the treat- 
ment he had received in strong language; declined 
to promise to detain the vessel, and advised that 
she should not be fired on, as the tire would 
probably be returned. The next day Mr. Jef- 
ferson, his pretended fi-iend, went in person to 
see him, when he also refused to make any 
promise, only observing, that the vessel would 
probably not sail for two or three days. See Jef- 
ferson's account of what was said in Spark's life 
of Washington. The troops were withdrawn, the 
vessel fell down the liver the next day, as Genet 
had said she would, and afterwards went to sea. 
Thus was happily defeated a miserable attempt to 
involve the United States in war with France. 
The result would have been the forcing of the 
States back to Great Britain. Jefferson does not 
pretend that Genet made anj^ threat to appeal to 
tlie people to him, and when it was claimed to 
have been made to Mr. Dallas at his midnight call, 
Dallas made an affidavit that no such threat was 
made to him, and read it at a public meeting in 
Philadelphia. Still it was reported to Washing- 
ton on his return to Philadelphia and made him 
furious. 

This is an extract of a letter written by Genet 
and addressed to Jefferson in 1797, but not pub- 
lished for politicial reasons. ''And when the 



25 

President returned from Mount Vernon, called 
back by the clamors of tlie Enolisli faction and of 
the Minister to whom he liad delegated the execu- 
tive power during his absence, I imparted ro you 
the resolution I had formed to open my heart to 
him with frankness, and try to put an end to dis- 
putes that were everyday becoming more serious. 
You represented to me that this procedure would 
be contrary to established usage; that all com- 
munication of Foreign Ambassadors with the 
Executive should pass through the Secretary of 
State, and that probably I would not be admitted. 
But resolved to attempt everything that might 
conciliate matters, I went the same evening 
to the President's house ; I found him with 
Mrs. Washington and Senator Morris. After some 
very polite and obliging discourse on the part of 
Mrs. Washington, I arose, and approaching the 
chair of the President, said to him, that Idesiied to 
have a private interview with him. He at first 
made me theanswer that you foresaw; but insisting 
and assuring him that it was of the highest im- 
portance for the maintenance of good understan4- 
ing between our two countries; that we were per- 
haps both 0£ us deceived and that it was necessary 
to understand one another, he passed with me in- 
to the next room. After being seated, I spoke to 
him as a man who sincerely meant well. I pro- 
tested to him, that I had received and not given 
the impulse which sei'ved to disturb the gov- 
ernment, and that I did not believe it to be any- 
thing more than the simultaneous effect of tlie 
honesty and up-rightness of the people. I pro- 
tested v^liat is entirely true that I had been entirely 
amazed on reading in the public journals, certain 
articles which they attributed to me relative to his 
conduct towards France; but in which 1 had no 
participation ; that my correspondence was in- 
deed animated, but if he would condescend to put 



26 

himself in my position, and consider that by his 
Proclamation of Neutrality, and the interpretation 
that had been given to it, he had annulled the 
most sacred treaties, deprived the French peoj)le, 
at a moment when they were in the greatest need 
of it for the defence of their colonies, of the alli- 
ance which they considered as property dearly 
bought, he would acknowledge that unless I was a 
traitor I could not act otherwise. But that just as 
much as I had shown myself punctillious and in- 
exorable on the strict execution of our old treaties, 
I would show myself quite as generous being well 
informed of the magnaninjity of France, if he 
would trample under the feet of liberty, the old 
treaties, and form a new pact, which would onl^^ 
contain principles of eternal truth, and a basis 
founded in the nature of things; after which, hav- 
ing never despaired of the French people, I added 
with contidence, that the Republic would dis- 
enibairass itself with glory, from all her diffi- 
culties ; that her armies repulsed at some points 
by the infamous manoeuvres of the hypo- 
crites to whom tiie inexperience of the gov- 
ernment had confided it, would soon undei- the 
orders of Commanders truly Republican, repair 
all its losses, multiply its victories, and force 
Europe to sue for peace on conditions that France 
herself should see proper to dictate, when she 
would not forget the United States. The Presi- 
dent listened to all 1 had said and simply told me 
that he did not read the papers, and that he 
did not care what they said concerning his admin- 
istration. We left the room, he accompanied me 
as far as tlie staircase, took me by the hand and 
pressed it. This silent response filled me with 
flattering thoughts. I hastened to your office the 
next morning ; you blushed on hearing that I had 
liad a private interview, and you were expressing 
your astonishment at it, when the door was opened. 



27 

It was the President himself. I arose looked at 
you alternately to see if I could read in your looks 
an invitation to remain, for which I would have 
voluntarily given a part of my life, but a very im- 
perative sign on your part obliged me to withdraw. 
I saw you afterwards and used every proper means 
to know whether the President had spoken to you 
respecting the step I had taken, but you main- 
tained an imperturbable silence." 

"A short time afterwerds, the squadron of the 
Republic, proscribed and flying from the calamities 
of St. Domingo, came, of their own accord, to the 
United States to put themselves under my direction. 
I formed the design of making them serviceable to 
the cause of liberty in the new w^orld and in- 
formed you of it. I fixed upon New York as one 
of the most convenient and best supplied ports in 
the Union as the place of its rendezvous and reor- 
ganization. I embiaced that opportunity of get- 
ting rid of all the Privateers, by attaching 
them as advice boats and tenders to the 
service of the squadron . I took leave of you and 
the President, who received me very politely, 
took wine with me, and a number of otficeis 
whom I presented to hin), and came to New York, 
where the republicans of that city gave me a very 
honorable reception, and very useful in the cir- 
cumstances in which I found myself placed face to 
face with a squadron in insurrection. 

I learned a few minutes after my arrival that 
the emissaries of the government had neglected 
nothing to prevent that reception, by publishing 
that I had insulted the President, and that I had 
threatened to appeal from his decisions to the peo- 
ple. This was the flrst intelligence I had ever had 
of that fiction, certifled to by Messrs. Jay and 
King. I laughed at it and thought it needed no 
answer. Some true friends who had not put them- 
selves forward as many had done, and whose at- 



28 

taclinient to me increased in i)roportion to my mis- 
fortunes, thought differently upon the subject. I 
reflected moi'e upon it and perceived that such an 
imposture must have been fabricated with son)e 
deep design. I recollected a conversation that Mr. 
Hamilton, Secretary of the Treasury, had with 
me, in which after having told me that the 
United States would commit ''an act of hos- 
tility" if they were to pay the whole of the debt 
due to Prance, endeavored to prove that the cassus 
foederis did not exist between France aud the 
United States; and that the latter would give us 
no manner of assistance, because we had acted in 
a hostile manner to Great Britain, by our ir- 
ruption into the low countries, by our projects 
upon Holland, by our correspondence with the 
])opular societies of England; by the connec- 
tions of M. Chauvelin and of his mentor, with the 
opposition party; and of the appeal to the people 
with iDhich they threatened the cabinet of his 
Britainic Majesty in the National Convention. 
I compared tnese observations which at least had 
the merit of candor, with what was going on with 
respect to myself, and suspecting that they were 
seeking for pretexts either to strengthen the argu- 
ments of Mr. Pitt, by corroborating them with the 
testimony of the Unietd States or to give color to the 
ingratitude of the Federal Government to discard 
our alliance and to cement one with England, I 
wrote directly to the President, to know if it was 
true that I had threatened to apj^eal from his de- 
cisions to the people. You answered me in his 
name in an evasive manner. Not being able through 
this channel to obtain satisfaction, 1 addressed 
mvself to the Attorney General of the United States 
the famous Randolpli. He made a dilatory re- 
ply and dragged the matter along, until the arrival 
of my successor, who. in compliance with his 
orders enjoined me from pursuing the matter fur- 



29 

ther, and from coiitiiiuing tlie proceedings I had 
taken in the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. 

My successor, Fauchet, was rendered impotent, by 
the organization which had been given to his mis- 
sion, by disguised royalists, who served by their 
talents the stupid ambition, the political ferocity 
of Robespierre, to re-establish despotism upon the 
sullied and disgusting ruins of liberty, after they 
should have accomplished the ruin of that wicked 
man. He was obliged, therefore, to throw himself 
into the arms of the enemies of his country, to 
disavow all I had done and to demand my arrest 
before he had seen me, so that I might be executed 
on board the fleet at Brest. Robespierre on your 
sole denunciation, having given the order not to 
let me ai-rive alive at Paris; although he had not 
read my repoits nor awaited my defence as citizen 
Adet has since officially informed me. This san- 
guinary requisition was rejected by Washington, 
who declared that he had demanded my recall and 
not my punishment. But Randolph, your friend, 
the man of precious confessions, added in confi- 
dence that I had still many friends. That it was 
necessary to wait, but that if Frauce insisted, they 
would examine if the power of the President, 
which on this point was questionable, might not 
still afford some expedient to do what France 
desired. 

All these infamies have fully justified in the 
tribunal of mv conscience the course I have taken, 
not being recalled, to remain in America after ren- 
dering my accounts and jilacing my papers in the 
hands of my successor in an honorable manner; and 
although with little fortune, to bury myself in re- 
tirement and silence; to meditate upon the great 
revolutions of the world; to try to penetrate the 
secrets of nature, and above all, to isolate myself 
from the detestable intrigues of courts and the dis- 
couraging cabals of the people." 



30 

"I woiikl to God, sir, that doing more justice to 
vour talents von had likewise consecrated to the 
cultivation of the sciences the balance of your life, 
after havin^- laboied in establishing the independ- 
ence of tile United States. I wish that all the other 
envoys of the Federal Government had done the 
same. France would then perhaps have passed with- 
out any susj^ended motion from one energetic gov- 
nment to another. The blood of the Bourbons^ 
banished like that of the Tarquins, would not have 
flowed upon the scaffold. The French people, 
powerful and formidable, would have restrained 
Europe and found allies; millions of men would 
still be living for agriculture and the arts; Poland 
would not be destroyed, and the United States hav- 
ing conducted themselves strictly as an association 
of industrious merchants and peaceable farmers, 
who prefer the horn of plenty to the trumpet of 
fame, would not have drawn upon themselves the 
resentment of all parties who have succeeded each 
other in France, and who have been all equally 
deceived — of Spain, which the late retrocession to 
Great Britain of a favor granted to the United Slates 
must have singularly alarmed; also of some of the 
neutral northern powers, who neither, like your 
<;ommentai-ies on Vattel, nor the refusal made in line 
with those principles to the Coui-tof Denmark, to 
co-operate to maintain the princii)les of the armed 
neutrality, that solid basis of the freedom of the 
seas laid down at St. Petersburg, through the 
intervention of France and Spain. Finally, of that 
man whose name to-day rej^resents the collective 
idea of all perfidy, T mean Pitt, who discontented, 
as is always the case, with tergiversation and half 
measures, seems to liave appioximated himself to 
the United States only to spit upon them his last 
venom, to punisli them for having Hrst raised the 
standard of liberty which crushed him, to set them 
on lire, tear them to pieces and make their blind- 



31 

ness serve for the clestrLiction of the treaties which 
giiaranree their independence." 

Dnring the early years of the American Revo- 
lution before the King of France had openly es- 
poused its cause, Paul Jones in the Bonhonime 
Richard, as a Privateer, made excursions from 
ports in France to prey ux)on British commerce in 
the Baltic. This commerce was mostly with Rus- 
sia, over which the British merchants had ob- 
tained such a monoply and control by treaty and 
long habit, that it was only after many yeais and 
with great difficulty, that Catharine was brought 
to see the advantage that would arise to her Em- 
pire, bj^ opening its commerce to other nations. 
Jones was so active in the Baltic that the Russian 
merchants complained very seriously of his inter- 
ruption of their business. The Empress became 
indignant, and at the request of the British Min- 
ister she ordered eight Regiments to embark for 
America to aid in the suppression of the rebellion. 
Hearing of it, the French Minister went to her 
Vice Chancellor, Count Panin, a firm friend of 
France, to inquire as to the truth of the rumor. 
Yes, said Count Panin, it is true, but leave me, I 
am thinking how 1 can counteract that intrigue. 
The result was that the order was countermanded 
and the Empress announced that she would make 
a Code of Laws for the protection of neutral com- 
merce upon the high seas, to be enforced by arms. 
This was accomf)lished, and the Code was acceded 
to by France, Spain, Holland, Denmark and the 
American Congress. The British Government 
claiming an Empire of the seas refused to accede 
to it or to acknowledge its principles. This ac- 
cession was one of the pledges and promises that 
the United States made as a consideration for its 
independence. 

Genet had been directed by his Government to 
consult Mr. Jefferson upon all of his acts in 



America. He did so. He took no step withont 
consiiltino; tliat secret friend to a British Alliance, 
while at the same time he pretended to be a friend 
to the obligations of the treaties with France. 
These positions were antagonistic; the alternative 
was the new treaty that Genet was authorized to 
make, in which Frtince would give np the old ob- 
ligations and make a new treaty that would place 
the American Gov't, in a position of actual neu- 
tralit}^, to which it was believed Great Britain 
would accede, if not b}'^ Mr. Pitt then by Mr. Fox, 
who would be able to defeat Mr. Pitt and his 
l)arty If Mr. Jefferson had been a sincere friend 
of France it would have succeeded; but he was 
not; he too was in favor of the English alliance. 
When, upon the occasion of his desire to have a 
personal interview with the President, which Mr. 
Jefferson tried to dissuade him from, and what 
transpired the next day, Genet became fully con- 
vinced of this du})licity, and the breach occurred. 
Mr. Jefferson called some of his Republican friends 
together and told them he could not retain his place 
in the Catiinet unless he gave up Genet; that he 
must give up one or the other, and it was wise to 
give up Genet, which was agreed to. On the other 
hand, Genet tinding himself betrayed by his pre- 
tended friend, with no support in the Cabinet, 
with his own counrty in the hands of a mob, the 
guillotine behind him, and a hostile but deceived 
government before him; fully convinced from his 
thorough knowledge, of the secret intention of Mr. 
Pitt to regain the thirteen Colonies, felt the neces- 
sity of popular organization. It seems never to 
have suggested itself to the mind of any American 
historian that one of tiie objects of the military 
organization in the south and northeast, with the 
considerable Fren(di Naval power on the coasts 
and the organization of the people by means of 
Clubs might, have been to aid the United States in 



33 

defending itself, slionld Pitt, still holding the 
wertern posts, still arming the Indians, still refus- 
ing to fulfil the treaty of peace of 1788, still post- 
poning to make the commerical treaty which 
Washington so ninch desired, still watching for 
the utter extermination of P^rance, determine, that 
the affairs of the Continent were in a condition 
that enabled him to demand and enforce the im- 
mediate return of the thirteen colonies to their 
former condition of allegiance. 

It was partly in this, as well as in the interest of 
liberty in general, that finding the American Gov- 
ernment in a state of apathy and unconsciousness, 
Genet called around him some of the more ad- 
vanced Republicans and pointed out to them the 
advantages of organization by means of Clubs and 
Societies. 

The history of Philadelphia by Messrs. Scliarf 
& Westcott, Vol. J, p. 474, says of this period: 
''The Fourth of July this year, 1794, was cele- 
"brated more as a French than an American holi- 
"day. On that day the first Democratic Society 
"established in the United States v/as organized 
"with David Rittenhouse as President, William 
"Coates and Charles Biddle as Vice Presidents, J. 
"Porter and Peter A. Duponceau, Secretaries, 
"Israel Israel, Treasurer, Dr. James Hutchinson, 
"\lexander J. Dallas, Michael Liebe, Jonathan 
"Dickinson Sargeant and David Jackson, Commit- 
"tee of Correspondence." Again at page 475: "It 
"was about this time that the name Democrat de- 
"rived from the Democratic Society which had 
"been formed in Philadelphia in imitation of the 
"political clubs of Paris, was first introduced as a 
"party appellation into American politics. A long 
"time elapsed, however, before it was accepted by 
"any but the more ultra portion of the opposition. 
"/^ was never recognized by Jefferson, and even of 
"these societies, several preferred to call them- 



34 



"■selves Republican. It was only in combination 
"with that earlier name that the term Democrat 
"came into general use, the combined opposition 
"taking to themselves the title of Democratic Re- 
"publicans." When the first Club referred to was 
formed in Philadelphia in 1793 a Committee waited 
on Genet to consult with him upon the name the}^ 
should adopt. They proposed to call themselves 
the Sons of Liberty. He says in a memorandum 
of the occurrence: "They proposed to call them- 
"selves the Sons of Liberty; I opposed it and sug- 
"gested the name Democratic Club and it was 
"adopted." A century has passed since these 
events, and Democracy has triumphed. Within a 
decade the Federalists went down before it never to 
recover. The Whig party which followed went 
down later; and now there is nothing left but 
the Democratic Republican party divided into 
two parties, one taking the name of Republican 
and the other Democrat. Each has a Club called 
by the name of its party in every town and ward 
thi'oughout the whole United States. "Democracy 
"will never go down again; it has come to stay; it is 
"spreading over the world, springing up like some 
"of the most beautiful flowers, from the use of fer- 
"tilizers, that in themselves, are not always 
"pleasant to delicate nostrils. 

"Democracy is fallible" says Senator Lodge in 
Scribner's magazine for Decembei', 1898, "and im- 
"perfect, because human nature is so; but it has 
"come; it has brought untold good to mankind; it 
"will bring y^et more; no man can stay its resistless 
"march. 

Speaking of the war of 1812, this same distin- 
guished writer says: "English brutality surpassed 
"even the cynical outrages heaped upon us by 
"Napoleon and brought at last the war of 1812. A 
"righteous war of resistance and one bringing most 
"valuble results to the United States. ■ * * 



35 

"Even Jefferson as we now know with all his re- 
"pnted and a[)parent hostility to England, tiied to 
"bring about close relations between the two coun 
"tries, but England pursued a steady course of 
"hostility" p. 734. 

When Genet determined at the Court of Russia 
to refuse the flattering offers of the Bourbon 
Princes, to join their conspiracy to overturn the 
Constitution, that he had so recently by order of 
the King sworn to support; he was at once de- 
nounced as a Re])ub]ican and incurred the undy- 
ing and everlasting hate of all the aristocrats of 
the world, particularly those of Prance and the 
United States. Porced to retire from the Court of 
Catharine, he was neither ordered by his govern- 
ment nor required for a long time to leave the Rus- 
sian Empire. The astute Catherine allowed him 
to remain within call as a check upon the allies 
should they in any way oppose her secret inten- 
tions of aggrandizement in the direction of Poland. 
Exiled from the Court he found previously un- 
known friends, and w^as well informed of every step 
that was being taken, even to some of the most 
private expressions and views of the Empress, of 
all which, he kept his government well informed 
by cipher dispatches, which it did not want and 
finally did not even open. He was also able to 
reach the ear of the Empress herself, by writing an 
occasional dispatch in plain writing which he de- 
posited in the ordinary post: for no letter ever 
went through the Russian Post Office to a foreign 
government that was not opened and read by the 
Empress herself. In this way he was able to ame- 
liorate the condition of the French wliow'ere found 
in many parts of Russia, and were not always dis- 
creet in the expression of their political opinions. 
He repeated the hardships they endured and was 
sure the Empress who was of a generous nature 
and a kind heart, would ameliorate their condition 



1 



/ 



36 \ 

if she knew it. At the same time lie advised the 
French residents to forbear the expression of their 
political views. 

Living thus, retired from the Court, he was able 
to economize his expenditures; which he at once 
donated to his government, to aid its military and 
naval operations. He even exchanged his diamond 
watch for one less costly and donated the difference. 
Thus it was that when he was ordered linally to 
leave her domain by Catharine and to return to 
Paris by his own government and had reached 
Warsaw in August, 1892, one of the journals of 
that city said of him: "the Democrat Genet after 
"a residence of live years at the Court of St. Peters- 
"burg, arrived here last evening. If his govern- 
"ment had listened to him, the allies would not 
"now be upon the banks of the Rhine." 

One thing is certain, that is that the United States 
never had a more sincere friend to its interests and 
independence than this young ambassador. His 
father had done much to aid the Americans in 
their revolution. What was the labor of a Gen- 
eral in the field in comparison with the mental 
strain of the diplomacy that kept England isolated 
on the Continent of Europe so that she could only 
obtain a few Hessians to help her to subdue tlie 
American rebels? What was the labor of vouno- 
Layfayette to tliat of the Minister DeVeigennes! In 
1793, Washington's Cabinet was unanimous, includ- 
ing Mr. Jefferson, for a treaty of amity and alliance 
and of Commerce with Great Britain. No one knew 
better than Genet who was intimately acquainted 
with the secret views of all the cabinets of Eurojje, 
as well as their interests and power, that Mr. Pitt 
had no i)resent intention of accepting it or giving 
up his passion to reconquer the American Colonies. 
No one knew better than he, that France did not 
want to involve the United States in a war with 
England; and no one knew better than he, that Mr. 



37 



Pitt was neither anxious nor willing to go into a 
war with the United States, so long as matters were 
kept so active on the continent and France was not 
destroyed. France claimed the right to issue the 
letters of Marque and enlist men who chose to take 
service with her, as Paul Jones had done prior to 
the French alliance, during the American Revolu- 
tion. 

In August, 1793, Genet found himself in a very 
uncomfortable diplomatic position. The King and 
Queen had been beheaded by the Jacobins, so had 
the Girondists who sent him. France had gone 
into the control of Robespierre and the Reign of 
Terror. He accomplished something, how^ever; 
he had forced the acknowledgement of the 
French Republic. Mr. Hamilton had refused 
to advance any part of the debt due to France 
bv the United States, but Genet had forced him 
to do so, by declaring that he would assign it 
in portions to tliose American merchants who would 
furnish him with hour and provisions to send to 
the starving inhabitants of the French West India 
Islands. Mr. Hamilton thereupon did advance him 
some millions of dollars which he expended in the 
purchase of those commodities. These jDurchases 
were put on American vessels sailiugunder its neu- 
tral tiag, to be transported to the French Islands. 
They had no sooner left the harbors than they were 
seized by the British cruisers and men of war, wiio 
took the cargo to England as contraband of war and 
impressed the sailors into their service as subjects 
of the King. It was in vain that Genet piotested 
to the American government; his demands that it 
should protect the honor of its neutral flag were 
considered offensive. 

In August he came to New York where he 
was received with the greatest honor. It was 
deeiried important by the government and its 
partisans that something should be done to 



J38 

counteract the growing ijopularity of tbe French 
cause. Tmniecliately Messrs. Jay & King pub- 
lished a card stating that Genet had insulted the 
President and threatened to appeal to the i)eople. 
Genet at once denied it and wioteto the Pi'esident 
to ask if he had ever insulted him. This was not 
answered. He then api)lied to the Attorney Gen- 
eral to prosecute those gentlemen for their libel 
against the representative of a foreign government. 
The law of nations makes a foreign ambassador 
the guest of the nation and obliges it to protect 
and defend him from all aggressions. This re- 
ceived no notice. He then advised with Mr. 
Edward Livingston, a prominent lawyer in New 
York, by whose advice he brought suit against 
Messrs. Jay & King in the Supreme Court of Penn- 
sylvania for libel. The suit was intended to prove 
that the story was a calumny and to discover its 
origin or author, Messrs Jay & King declared in 
their notice that they had good authority for what 
they certified. There can be little doubt that their 
authority Avas Mr. Jefferson himself since it was 
attributed to Mr. Dallas who was sent to Genet at 
midnight in regard to "Le Petit Democrat". Mr. 
Dallas not only denied that such threat had been 
made to him, but swore to his denial in an affidavit 
that he read at a public meeting in Pliiladelphia. 

In November, 1793, the British Government 
issued orders that were intended to clean the ocean 
of American shipping. In December Congress 
met and Genet left the generous, patriotic, sincere 
friends lie had made in New York, and his much 
loved Cornelia Clinton ani went to Philadelphia. 

Things had changed, it was known now that the 
American Government had been deceived by the 
inoenuitv of the British Minister, and its own 
credulity, and that Mr. Pitt liad no present inten- 
tion of making any treaty of amity and alliance or 
even of commerce wifh the American Government. 



39 

Mr. Jefferson had retained his phice iu Washing- 
ton's Cabinet, and retained his friends in the 
offices, but lie had no intention of losing the ultra 
republicans, the men of the Democratic societies. 
Thereupon his Republican friends held another 
caucus and determined that it was then possible to 
make up the difference between Washington and 
Genet and to that end appointed a committee con- 
sisting of Messrs. Gallatin, Bayard and Taylor, 
United States Senators, to endeavor to reconcile 
the difference between the President and the Am- 
bassador. They waited upon Genet to inform him 
of their good intentions, but lie declined, in view 
of the fact that he had received no further instruc- 
tions, and it was known that a new Ambassador 
with new instructions was already on the ocean and 
would soon arrive. 

Fauchet, the successor, arrived soon after in 
January. His instructions were to disavow all 
that Genet had done and to pursue a course en- 
tirely the reverse of his. Genet was not recalled 
but was superseded and the first act of Fauchet 
was to demand his surrender for the guillotine. 
This was refused by the American Government 
with an intiniation that it might be done later on. 
Fauchet then informed him that the suits he had 
instituted in Pennsylvania against Messrs. Jay & 
King, two high officials, were offensive to the 
American Government, and it was the wish of the 
men in chaige of the guillotine called the French 
Government, that they should be discontinued. 
This he refused, giving as a leason that this libel 
affected himself ]rersonally. Fauchet reminded 
him that he had a mother and sisters in France 
and by the law of that country, the family of a 
Foreign Minister were liable with their lives for his 
conduct. There could be no answer to this. The 
suits were discontinued, and this i3olitical lie was 
sent down through the ages, as apart of American 



40 

histoiy; tau^^ht to the rising generations in the 
schools and hugged to their bosom b}^ American 
historians as an item of the insolence of detested 
France and the greatness of America. 

Genet settled his accounts with his successor for 
the millions he had received and expended for sub- 
sistence for the starving inhabitants of the French 
West Indies, that went mostly however to feed the 
British, omitting to take the commission to which 
custom entitled him. He had spent a good part 
of his outfit in erecting hospitals and feeding the 
Refugees from St. Domingo. This was never re- 
funded him by his own government, nor did it ever 
pay him the balance of his salary, but it did con- 
fiscate the small property he left in France. The 
sale of his horses and carriages and forniture in 
Philadelphia brought him enough to buy a small 
farm at Jamaica near New York, where he was 
kindly and generously received by the people. Tlie 
Federalists to defeat his marriage with Miss Clin- 
ton spread a report that he alread}^ had a wife in 
France. Until this calumny was removed Gover- 
ernor Clinton withheld his consent, and it was not 
until November 1794 that the marriage took place 
in the Government house on the Bowling Green in 
the City of New York, and he took his bride 1o 
the L(»ng Island farm. After the fall of Robes- 
pierre in 1794 he had good reason to believe that 
he would be recalled by the French Directory. This 
was defeated by Mr. Monroe in the interest of the 
American government which was misleading 
Prance, while Mr. Pitt, having finall}^ given up his 
dearest wish to reconquer the colonies in view of 
the failure to crush France, was ready to make the 
commercial tieaty. Mr. Jay was suddenl}- taken 
from the Bench of the Supi'eme Court of the United 
States and sent to England to complete it. The 
French government was astonislied. Mr. Monroe 
complained that he had himself been grossly de- 



41 

ceived by his own government. When Mr. Jay 
returned with the treaty it was freely denounced 
and burned in the streets of New York and Pliila- 
delphia. Three years after, Mr. Giles in Congress 
speaking of the Jay treaty said, "For the making 
"of such a treat}' I have never heard a reason. It 
"has been called an instrument of jDeace and its 
"lirst effect, was that we were summoned to fight 
"with France, Spain and Holland. One of the ar- 
"ticles was that free ships do not make free goods. 
"This was highly injurious to both France and the 
"United States. The United States Government act- 
"ed under the idea of a dangerous French influence 
"in this country. Even the pulpit reviled Genet. 
"If execration, disappointment and contempt could 
"fill the measure of his punishment he had it." The 
execration and contempt of the political pulpit falls 
with as much effect upon right minded people as 
hail stones fall upon a slated roof. The people 
were with him always. As the son in law of 
Governor Clinton, whom the people elected and 
reelected Governor of this great State for twenty- 
two years and afterwards twice as Vice-President 
of the United States, he had all the position and 
infiuence that he might require. The troubles in 
Europe brought in time exiles from France, Ire- 
land and the whole of EurojDe. They mostly came 
to New York and brought great accessions to the 
Democratic Republican party, so much so that')^ 
about 1800 Mr. John Adams and the Fedei-alists y 
passed the alien and sedition laws in Congress for / 
the purpose, it was believed, to drive Genet and v 
these others out of the country. Mr. John 
Adams, at a dinner party at the house of Mr. 
Pavne in New York, denied this, and said 
Genet was the last man to whom he would 
have applied it; he would never forget the 
service of his father to the American cause in 
France. In after years Napoleon invited Genet 



42 

to return. He had his name struck from the list 
of the proscribed and directed his sister to write 
to him that he woukl be well received. There 
were but four of the diplomats who had volun- 
tarily remained away from their country during 
the French revolution, whom Napoleon allowed to 
return: one was Talleyrand, another was Maret, 
Duke of Bassano, another, whose name I have not 
at hand, and Genel. This last w^as about to ac- 
cept and went to engage passage on a vessel when 
he met Count Real, from whom he inquired what 
shape the Government in France would assume. 
Real told him Napoleon would certainly be made 
Emperor. Thereupon he changed his determina- 
tion, removed to a farm at Greenbush on the Hud- 
son opposite Albany, the Capitol of the State, to 
be nearer the Governor, and became an American 
citizen. He made his declaration in the Supreme 
Court at Albany and was accompanied by DeWitt 
Clinton and Lieutenant Governor Broome as his 
witnesses. Mr. Hamilton was present and ad- 
dressed the Court, saying, it was a notable event 
and a compliment to our institutions, from which 
it would seem that Mr. Hamilton was not affected 
by the revilement and contempt of his political 
friends. 

When Congress had assembled in December 
1793, and Mr. Jefferson and his political friends 
appointed a committee of three to wait upon Genet 
in an effort to procure a reconciliation with Presi 
dent Washington, it w^as entirely within the 
probabilities not only, that it would have been ac- 
complished but that a new treaty could have been 
agreed upon and the mission been entirely success- 
ful and a world of misery and disgrace saved to 
America and Great Britain also, as well as the war 
of 1812. For by that time Washington must have 
known that the British Government had been 
misleading and deceiving him. Whoever has 



43 

carefully noted, the chaiacter of Washington must 
have seen that he was ajDt to start wrong, yet was 
aftfirwards quite open to reason and conviction; but 
the infamous communication to the Jacobin govern- 
ment of France had gone out and had been at once 
answered with a warrant for the guillotine. The 
new ambassador had arrived, with instructions 
directly the reverse of those given by the Girond- 
ists. The poisoned seed had borne poisoned fruit. 
It is true that history repeats itself; a century has 
passed, the curious American passion for an ofl'en- 
sive and defensive alliance with Great Britain has 
had its run and is now revived by the political 
pulpit of America with as much intensity as ever, 
to unite to conquer the world. Fortunately Great 
Britain has a sensible woman as its C^ueen and one 
sensible minister. "On the 12th of December, 
"1798, at Paris, Sir Edmond J. Mouoon took 
"occasion to exx)r6ss his great sympathy for 
"France and his profound conviction that she 
"would unite herself with England and the United 
"States for progress and civilization." "1 hope,'' 
he said, ''that at Christmas time there will no 
"longer be any question of war between Great 
"Britain and France." 

In January following, things had progressed so 
far in that direction, that this cloud of a useless 
war had disappeared, and "the i^rogramme so far 
amounts to an Anglo-French treaty of the highest 
order." Such an union of good feeling between 
the two greatest civilized nations in the world 
might have been brought about a century ago, and 
untold miseries, wars and bloodshed avoided, but 
for Washington's suspicions of the intentions of 
France, and the American Anglo-Saxon "craze." 
In the fall of 1793 it w^as learned in the United 
States that, on the 6th of November preceding, the 
order in Council had been made, directing British 
cruisers to stop, detain and bring into port all 



44 

ships laden with goods, the produce of any Frencit 
Colony or carrying provisions or other supplies for 
the use of such colony. Simnltaneously with the 
adoption of this order un exi)edition was dis- 
patched for the conquest of the French West In- 
dies. Great excitement was caused in Philadel- 
phia by the news of this action on the part of the 
British government and on the 26th of March, 1794 
Congress passed a resolution laying an "embargo 
''for thirty days on American vessels bound to any 
"foreign port or place. * ^ On the 13th of April, 
"1794, a large body of sailors, paraded the streets 
"of Philadelphia; apprehensions of a riot were felt 
"but Governor Mifflin forced them to disperse. 
"The militia were called out, however, and meas- 
"ures taken for the defense of the city." Scarffs 
Philadelphia, Vol. 1, p. 477. But Genet had 
ceased to represent France at that time and his 
successor was not authorized to enter into any new 
treaty negotiation. 

Some years later on, Mde: Campan entrusted to 
the care of Mr. Monroe, American Minister to 
France, on his return to America, a set of Sevres 
porcelain that belonged to her brother. Not hear- 
ing from it fora longtime. Genet wrote to him con- 
gratulating him upon his election as Governor of 
Virginia, and enquired about the porcelain. 
"Perhaps" he says "you will learn also with some 
interest that the "Directory of the French Repub- 
"lic has recalled me as I should have been in 1794 
"in the most honorable manner." On the 30th of 
July, 1800, Mr. Monroe answered this letter and in 
it says: "The box of porcelain which was enti'usted 
"to us, by our most estimable friend Madame Canj- 
"pan, was carried with our baggage to Albemarle, 
"where it has since remained unpacked. I should 
"have forwarded it to yon long since, but declined 
"it, lest in the then infatuated state of the public 
"mind, it might be considered as a proof of a con- 



45 

'spiiacy aojainst the Government, and of a trea- 
'sonable correspondence with France, &c. I shall, 
'however, hasten to have it brought here and for- 
'warded to you in the care of some friend in New 
'York, of which you shall be advised. I am 
'happy to hear your Government has recalled 
•you, to its own and the bosom of your friends. 
'As a friend to free government, your name will 
'be recorded in the history of the present day, 
'and your patient submission to the censures you 
'incurred in the station of a frugal and industrious 
'farmer, will be a proof of the uprightness of your 
'heart and integrity of your conduct, while a vic- 
'tim to pure principles. I considered it my duty 
'not to injure your fame or detract from your 
•merit while I was in France; but to anticipate 
'and prevent as far as I could any ill effects which 
'your collision with our Government might pro- 
'duce in the Fi'ench councils. It was natural had 
•you returned that you should have gone into a 
•detail with your government, of the incidents 
'attending your mission; and more than probable 
'that the communications yon would have made 
'to it would have increased the jealousy which it 
'then entertained of the views of ouis. It was my 
'desire and endeavor, to dissipate completely all 
'those jealousies, and to bring the P^*ench govern- 
'ment into a system of conduct towards us, 
'through the whole of the war, great and magnani- 
'mous, which would have done it honor to the 
'latest posterity. I had, no particular reason to 
'conclude you would not have united in such a 
'plan, other than the strength of human passions 
'and the knowledge I had, that you thought you 
'were injured. Hence I was persuaded your re- 
'turn at the time might be injurious, and was in 
'■fact aoerse to it. But I did not oppose it b}^ any 
'direct or indirect agency But such was the 
'state of things growing out of my standing with 



46 

"the priiicix)al members of tlie goveriiiTient, that 
"they would take no step in it without speaking 
"to me on it. When the subject was opened I ai- 
rways was silent; testifying in favor of your in- 
"tegrity only; and whence it was inferred, and 
"truly, I was averse to your return at the time. 
"The wiiole of this has passed, and is only recol- 
"lected as interesting to ourselves. I too have had 
"my day of suffering. I served with zeal the 
"cause of liberty and my country, and was re- 
"quited, by every act of injustice which could be 
"rendered me short of imprisonment and death. 
"This too has passed though it can never be recol- 
"lected by me but with disgusl ." 

The period referred to by Mr. Monroe was in 1794, 
after the fall of Robespierre. At this period the 
hopes of Pitt to crush France had vanished, and he 
was ready to make the-American treaty of commerce. 
Mr. Jay was taken from the bench of the Supreme 
Court, and sent with all speed to London to complete 
it. Mr. Monroe at Paris was kept in profound ignor 
ance of the intentions of the American Govern- 
ment and successfully but unintentionally deceived 
that of F'rance. When theti'eaty was made it was 
a great surprise to France to learn that young Amer- 
ica had already learned the ways of "perfidious 
Albion." On the 20 Brumaire, year 2 of the Re- 
public, Mangourit, who had been vice consul at 
Charleston, wrote Genet, "Leave! Genet, leave! 
Justice is waiting for vou! Tvrannv exists no 

O *■ •'4/ 

more! Time is an honest man you say and so he 
is. He presents his wing to you, your friends sigh 
for you. If you do not come, what negligence! 
My friend, honor! Pascal embraces you. T was 
named to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the 
thiiteenth of this month. With your talents I 
should have accej^ted. Come my dear Genet, come 
and merit your civic crown." 

In 1800 at the desire of his fatlier in law, Genet 



47 

removed to a farm on the Hudson four miles from 
Albany, where he continued to reside until 1834, 
when he died, and was buried in the church ceme- 
tery at East Greenbush. Having become a citizen 
he devoted a good part of his time to becoming 
valuable as such to his adopted country. He was 
alwavs active and influential in the Democratic 
party, was admitted to its secret councils, and al- 
ways was active at the party organization of his 
town. He was fully versed in the workings of 
Democracy. He often urged DeWitt Clinton to 
lend his great talents and influence to the construc- 
tion of the Erie Canal, by representing to him 
what the Empress Catharine had done for Russia 
by means of canals. Mr. Clinton finally did 
adopt and accomplish that great work, which made 
the State of New York the Empire State and the 
City of New York the largest and richest city in 
America. Later on he spent many years in writ- 
ing and making addresses to the Legislature, to 
induce it to abolish imprisonment for debt, and 
finally in 1828 with the aid of a young member of 
assembly from the City of New York, Silas M. 
Siillwell, they procured the passage of the first 
non-imprisonment act known as the Stillwell act. 
It drew the line between honest and dishonest 
debtors. The next year some of the merchants in 
Albany petitioned the Legislature to repeal the 
act, claiming that they could not well do business 
unless they could imprison their debtors. The 
Legislature remained firm and non imprisonment 
for honest debtors, has become the law throughout 
the whole United States. "We know, says Senator 
"Lodge, in tlie article above referred to, howdem- 
"ocracy has reformed the awful criminal code of 
"England of Pitt and Fox, and the miseries of the 
"debtors' prison, which Dickens described thirty 
"years ago; but we overlook the fact, that we our- 
"selves were but little better in these respects. 



48 



Robert Morris the patriot who upheki tlie break- 
ing credit and failing treasury of the confedera- 
tion in the days of the Revolution, and gave to 
"the American cause freely from his own purse 
"passed, four years in a debtors' jail in his old age 
"for the crime of having failed in business. Such 
"a punishment inflicted by the law for such a 
"cause would be impossible now, and yet, this is 
"but an illustration of the vast changes effected 
"by democracy in tlie relations of men one to an- 
"other. The altruism which is so marked a feature 
"of the century just closing, is the outcome of 
"Democracy. Democracy, is fallible and imperfect 
'•because human nature is so; but it has come, it 
"has brought untold good to mankind, it will 
"bring yet more. No man can stay its resistless 
"march." 

Tiie first act of the French Revolutionists in 
1789 was to abolish slavery in all the Prenc^li pos- 
sessions and to open the doors of the debtor's' 
prisons. 

Genet also gave a part of his time to scientific 
subjects; he made numerous experiments on the 
upward force of fluids and wrote and published a 
small work upon the subject which drew upon him 
a renewal of the old sneers and insults. In the 
course of these experiments he contrived a life 
boat. It was a fiat bottomed boat, about fifteen 
feet long, pointed in front, swelling at the sides, 
and square in the stern, with a seat running all 
ai'ound. Under this seat was a continuous tin pipe 
like a stove pipe about ten inches in diameter her- 
metically sealed. I remember to have heard that 
u hole was cut in the bottom of the boat, and 
two men [)laced upon it, who fioated it down 
the river in view of the New York public. He 
obtained a patent for this life boat, a model of 
which was filed in the Patent Office in Washing- 
ton, but was destroyed when in later years the 



49 

Patent Office was destroj^ed by fire. I remember 
also a life preserver made upon the same principle. 
It was a belt to go around the chest, to which were 
attached a row of tins about the size of a half pint 
measure made airtight. Both of these inventions 
are now in world wide use, in somewhat different 
form but upon no different or better principle. 
They have done a vast amount of good in saving 
life upon the water. 

American history says and insists that Genet 
after his alleged fruitless mission, retired to ob- 
scurity, wondering how Washington could be 
claimed to be a great man. The sarcasm is bitter 
but without merit. The time that he gave to think- 
ing of Washington was not to wonder how he could 
have been considered a great man, but how he him- 
self could have excited that intense detestation 
which caused Washington, in a letter to Arthur 
Lee in October, 1793, to refuse even to write 
his name, speaking to him as "that thing." Genet 
having become in later years more fully informed 
of American prejudices an incident recurred 
to him with so much force that he wrote it 
down.. It is this: After the insurrection of 
the negro slaves in St. Domingo when the 
French residents came Hying to Philadelphia, 
the mulattos and negroes, who had possessed 
themselves of the Island, sent an Embassy to 
Genet, who was the nearest and highest repre- 
sentative of the French Government, to explain to 
him their loyalty to the French Republic and their 
present intentions. He received them as ambas- 
sadors, treated them as such and invited them to 
dine with him. Washington was a large slave 
owner, filled with the American prejudice against 
the blacks and probably nothing in the world 
could have given him such great offense. But 
to Genet it was different; he was a stranger to those 
prejudices; he had been brought up and educated 



\ 



50 

under his father's supervision in the French Office 
of Foreign Affairs, among the literary men, the 
poets and statesmen known as the French Phil- 
osophers, in furtherance of whose teachings slavery 
lias ceased to exist and debtors' prisons have dis- 
appeared. "'Can this" he writes, "have been the 
cause of Washington's great antipathy'^' 

In conclusion I cannot forbear to mention two 
incidents in his life that would seem to be of in- 
terest. When the French Monarchy was over- 
thrown, and the Russian'^Vice-Chancellor informed 
Genet that the Empress would no longer receive 
him as the representative of France, it was an- 
nounced to him, after the guests had assembled, 
but before they had taken their seats, at a diplo- 
matic dinner at the palace of the Vice-Chancellor, 
Genet at once, in a loud voice, so that all might 
hear, protested, that a nation had a right to legu- 
late its own domestic governnjent in its own way. 
and witlidrew without waiting for the dinner. A 
century has passed since then. In 1862, when 
Louis Napoleon proposed to intervene in the 
American civil war, the Emperor of Russia is re- 
ported to have directed his minister to answer in 
this way: "Say to the Em[)eror, that the United 
"States have as much right to establish their form 
"of government, as we have to establish our form. 
"Tell him that we have as little right to interfere 
"with that form once established, as they have to 
"interfere with our form that we have established. 
"And tell him further that if he meddles with 
"tlieir form of government we will strike him." 
Thus the right declared in St. Petersburg in the 
presence of all Europe, and then denied, is at the 
end of a century declared to the world, by Ihe Em- 
peror of all the Russians on the very spot where 
it was then denied. 

The other incident is this: When I w^as quite 
young I remember one iiot Sunday in August, 183U 



61 

three young Frenchnien came climbing up the high 
hil] at Green Bush on which tlie house stands, with 
their coats upon their arms, sweltering with the 
heat, and enquired for M. Genet. One was young 
de Tocqiieville, another was his friend Beaumont 
and the name of the third 1 do not remember. 
They had come to obtain information from the for- 
mer French Diplomat and present American De- 
mocrat, to aid de Tocqneville to write a book on 
Democracy in America; and to whom couki they 
have come, who could give them better information. 
He could not only give them the information but 
he could give it to them in French, which must 
have been of great importance since de Tocqueville 
did not speak much, if any, English. They re- 
mained to dinner and conversed until near sunset, 
when they were sent back in my father's carriage, 
a barouche in which Lafayette had paraded the 
streets of. New^ York. .. When in recent years the 
diary of de Tocqueville was published, I went to 
the Astor Library to learn what he said of that Sun- 
day in August, and all I found was '"Saturday 
arrived in Albany, Monday left Albany." That 
Sunday was blank. This searcher for material to 
make a book in a country with whose language he 
was not conversant was possibly led to believe that 
he had better omit to mention the name of a man 
who was regarded with disfavor bv the x\merican 
people. Calumny did its work; he might use the 
information he got; he might mention the names of 
all the distinguished Americans he interviewed, 
but he must omit to mention Genet. De Tocque- 
ville was an aristocrat; he threw himself into the 
hands of all the old Federalists he could And, and 
with the material thus obtained he made a book 
written in French and translated into English. He 
called it "Democrac}'^ in America." It might bet- 
ter be called an aristocrat's view of Democracy in 
America. It has accomplished nothing for Demo- 



52 

cracy . Indeed it wholly failed to convert the au- 
thor himself, who afterwards accepted the title of 
•'Baron de Tocqueville." 

If you wish to destroy a man, says Mr. Craw- 
ford, in one of his novels, take away his monej' 
and pursue him with calumny. Genet lived an 
honored and respected citizen of the United States 
and when he died the State paper of New York 
State clothed its columns in black ; the bauds on 
the steamboats as they passed his residence played 
funeral dirges and long lines of carriages followed 
him to the tomb. In France an eulogy was pro- 
nounced upon him in the Academy of Sciences, of 
which he was a corresj^onding member, by one of 
its members appointed for the purpose. 

New York, April, 1899. 



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